Recently, JR Raphael wrote on Computer World about a Google software job that has bugged me for years. That thing is how Google likes to hype new features long before they are available since they make them available and we are forced to wait even longer.
At least we didn’t go down without explaining ourselves first.
It seems like the cool new feature i wanted to try was also the same feature that JR did, and both of us got a big plate of disappointment for our problems when we tried to use Google Assistant to send a voice message. Google announced a week ago that the feature was available, but I can not irritate my colleagues or family by the power of my voice, that is something I really wanted to do this week.
You can now send audio messages with Google Assistant on Android phones – without holding the small microphone. To get started, just say, “Hey Google, send an audio message” or “Hey Google, send an audio message to Paul and say I’m on my way.” The feature is available in English-speaking countries around the world, as well as in Portuguese in Brazil.
Like JR I am not surprised. I’ve been in this game long enough to be very familiar with Google’s “trollout” where new features or app updates are only given to a select few for a while. Even updates used to be this way, though Google has gotten better with the patches.
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Source: Jerry Hildenbrand / Android Central
I understand the reasoning. Google may have a few thousand employees testing a feature or an app update until the responsible people think it’s ready for release, but a few thousand people will never be able to find innovative ways to break things like a billion users will. That’s why Google started launching beta programs for some of its apps, but that does not help if a change is server side and you want it now.
There is also another thing to consider. What if a change sounds really good and the people who test it internally at Google really like it and Google only sends it to a billion people to find out that most of them really hate the way they like their favorite app destroyed? Do not laugh, that happens; we often get emails from people who think of Android Central is Android and bitterly complained about some small change.
In a situation like this, Google is between a rock and a hard place. It has half of the user base unhappy that it has ruined everything and if it rolls back the change the other half is now the unlucky side. You can not fix that, so send a change to a small set of users and listen to feedback. And if you’re Google, ignore it and do something about it. Just kidding. Most of the time.
We’ve known for over six years how Google likes to track software changes heel slowly and why. As Dan Morrill explained in 2014 (yes there was internet then):
Excerpts are performed in phases. Typically, they start at 24 – 48 hours on 1% of devices; we see the return rates and resulting device checks and error reports (if any), and make sure nothing looks wrong before sending it to more. Then it typically goes down to 25%, 50%, 100% over the course of a week or two.
I think the biggest problem is how hard Google is trying to convince you that this new feature is something you really want because it’s 100% great. Remember how we all wanted to call Assistant and make an appointment for a haircut because Google showed us how great the feature was? As a real-time translation in the Google Translate app? Or that one feature yes really wanted to try it out, but took his sweet time to come – if it ever quite arrived, that is.
Google knows how to build the hype.
Back when Google held real live events with real live people the developers and directors were master showman and made us all do it as quickly as humanly possible. Now it uses blog posts and YouTube to do the same thing. But the reality is that I’m waiting for the new update for Google Photos, I’m waiting for the latest changes in Gmail and I’ll be waiting for the opportunity to chirp people using Assistant as it’s 2008 again.
